Trust

Today is Monday, the first day of the rest of my life, and what am I doing with it? Washing. Ok, its not something profound, but at least its getting stuff clean. After that I might sort out the top of my desk, since decluttering your desk is as good as decluttering your head, according to an email that arrived in my inbox yesterday. I read it, then glanced around, and then hit the delete key. Maybe tomorrow. Today is tomorrow.

Back to the washing, which may not be hung out because the stuff from a few days ago is still on the line. It rains in Victoria. It rains a lot. A couple of years ago, just before I moved down here, there was a major, horrible, fire, that swept very close to this house (in relative terms), and my partner gave me weather reports (temp 47C, windspeed 100kms ph) from the top of the roof, where he was standing keeping an eye on what the fire was doing. Too many people died. In moments like that what do you do? Pray? I did.

A few days ago we took a drive through the region the fire had charred black. The trees have regenerated in their mad leafy patterns (all up the trunks, so few branches), but the undergrowth is still working hard to restore itself, and the tree ferns, in some areas, remain absent. During that time period there had been little to no rain, nor in Armidale NSW where I was living at the time, and now .. we have too much. When you look at that from a metaphysical point of view, what do you see? That those who are strong in their foundations can restore themselves, and those who are frail will fall? Some of the biggest and most beautiful trees did not recover, and the ferns are rampant in many areas .. so it doesn't matter how big or small you are .. what matters is what is happening underneath, inside you, in the quiet hidden places where your soul abides.

Australia is a land of extremes. There's no point in complaining about floods after long droughts .. this is Australia. So many people move here, or escape here, because we ARE the lucky country. We are governed by a bunch of lunatics who spend more time fighting than getting anything done, but at least they are not shooting at us when we protest their madness in the streets. Most of us have enough to eat, or more than enough, in some cases. Most of us have a safe place to sleep at night .. particularly now that its freezing cold, and there are many people out there trying to help those who don't .. who often don't want to be helped, or don't trust those trying to stretch out their hand in friendship, rather than a slap. They should not be expecting the slap ...

This blog started out with the thoughts about Trust. Who do you trust? Can you list the people on a page, a notepad, a stamp, on your fingers? Is God included in the list? That question comes up as I am discussing God, or gods, on another site, with folks that focus on communication with the dead, undead, and other unlikely givers of good cheer. God doesn't seem to fit anywhere with most of them. Mention the word and they go scampering away. And you know something, I don't blame them. Given the labels that 'God' now wears, I would run too. LOL If I saw God the way they do.

How do you trust something you cannot see? Good question. I had to stop and think about it for a moment, and then I remembered the sunrise, since we are now waking up in the dark. The sun comes up in the morning, we might not acknowledge that we do - but we trust that it will. Because we still get out of bed and get on with the day, and really don't notice the sunrise, unless its spectacular. I suppose it would be easier to trust God if he (she) stood up before us and did miracles? But why? It could only be slight of hand. Here's another example. Jump in your car and go for a drive. Make it on the freeway where some fool swoops around you and crosses 4 lanes in front of you (its happened), at 120kms an hour in a 100 zone .. I've driven through a deluge of rain on a London freeway, changing lanes constantly with cars that I couldn't see .. all I could see was the waves of water shooting skywards from their tyres .. and mine .. and we were doing 140kms. Even now my mind boggles. Between that and driving taxies for 2 years, I won't be frightened of driving again. Who did I trust then? Me, the other drivers? How about God? Was I praying then too .. you bet I was. Why was I travelling at that speed? Because there was nowhere to stop on the freeway, and everyone else was, and you had to keep up or be run over, and you had to change lanes regularly because the road to London kept changing all the time. Great analogy for life. It is not a regular straight, constant, safe, sensible, line. It weaves and dodges, and you have to learn to weave and dodge too.

So who do you trust? What the heck has God done to deserve it? That one hurts. If you go by the Old Testament trusting God is like playing Russian Roulette (with the gun). You have to love, honour and obey .. because if you don't, 'he' might smite you .. only no one has been smited (smit? smitted?) that we know of, in the past 2000+ years. So did we change Gods?

Interesting thought .. for a theology nut like me, but probably not for you .. so in brief terms, yes it appears we did. The old god in the Old Testament is called Jehovah, in the New Testament, Jesus called out from the cross to EL. If he had wanted Jehovah, I think he would have used his name quite clearly, given the circumstances.

The new God can be trusted to love us unconditionally, truly, deeply, madly (but not insanely). :-) The other thing you can trust is that s/he won't interfere in your life, one way or another. That's the gift of free will, the right to choose whatever path you want. You won't have to watch your back for lightning strikes, only bad behaviour by living humans, and some other nasty beings. That's their free will too. And what do you have to do in return for this love.

"Love one another as I have loved you". I know, in today's world, its a big ask .. but it can be a life-changing one. And all of us could use a little change once in a while.

What do you want to do - remain in a state of pain, or reach out to the hands reaching down to you and saying 'I love you'.

The most abused words in the english language, actually means we are alive and free, when we choose ....

"Your mission, if you choose to accept it ...................................................................."

Love & Peace,
Ama